Alexander (Civ5)
Alexander III or Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) was a king of Macedon and creator of a vast empire later divided up among his generals. In-Game Alexander speaks Ancient Greek. He is on his horse Bucephalus with mountains in the background. Concept art portrays him holding a spear and a shield on his back. Capital: '''Athens '''Unique Units: Hoplite, Companion Cavalry Unique Ability: '''Hellenic League '''Voice Actor: Miro de Monteseppia AI Traits Alexander is very bold and often hostile, and he will likely declare war on every civilization he meets. He is also likely to try to get nukes. The Greeks normally raise a large offensive army composed primarily of fast moving units, such as horsemen and tanks. They will have a fair amount of infantry, but normally have only a small amount of archers, cannons and later planes. Alexander is often protective to city-states, and will almost never try to conquer them. He will turn hostile if the player is making relations with city-states allied with him. Alexander will try to build many wonders. If the player is a warmonger, they can actually get along well with Alexander. By bribing Alex into fighting other civilizations, the player can have a close ally, as long as they don’t attack city-states. In the hands of the player, Alexander is suited for every victory condition, but you will probably try to pursue a diplomatic victory to make most of the use of the special ability. History Alexander the Great is unquestionably one of the great warlords of all time. In 17 short years he marched his army to victory after victory across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, conquering every civilization he could reach. Early life Alexander was the son of King Phillip II, an extremely successful king and warlord who had restored his kingdom from the verge of extinction and then led his people to triumph by conquering Athens, Illyria, and Thrace - the three powers who, a few short years before, had been on the verge of conquering Macedonia. As the son of the most powerful monarch in the "civilized" world, Alexander got the best of everything, including education - the scholar Aristotle, the great thinker of Western Civilization, was his tutor. Taught by his mother Olympias that he was descended from Hercules and Achilles, Alexander did not lack for self-confidence, even at a very young age. At the age of 14 Phillip left him in charge of Macedonia while he was away attacking Byzantium; Alexander crushed a Thracian rebellion during his father's absence. Two years later he commanded the left wing of his father's army during the battle in which Phillip's forces defeated the allied Greek states and conquered all of Greece. The next year Alexander's good fortune disserted him, for a while, at least. King Phillip divorced Alexander's mother for a woman named "Cleopatra Eurydice, and mother and son fled Macedonia. Alexander and his father were reconciled some time thereafter, but Alexander's position as Phillip's heir would have been in grave jeopardy had Phillip not conveniently died before producing another son. Rise to Power Following the conquest of Greece and the Balkans, King Phillip had been working on building an army to invade and conquer Persia. In 336 Phillip was assassinated by the captain of his bodyguard, Pausanias, while attending his daughter's wedding. (Some believe that Alexander's mother, Olympias − or indeed Alexander himself − was behind the assassination, but as Pausanias conveniently died during the murder there was no actual proof.) At the age of twenty Alexander was proclaimed king by the Macedonian army and nobility. He celebrated his victory by murdering all potential rivals to the throne, then resumed planning his father's interrupted invasion of Persia. The Creation of An Empire Alexander's force consisted of 30,000 foot soldiers and 5,000 cavalrymen, a huge army for the day, and was accompanied by engineers, surveyors, scientists, and even historians. In battle Alexander had amazing success against the Persians. He repeatedly beat their best soldiers, routinely fighting against odds of 10-to-1. His success can be attributed to his military genius, his force's superb training and equipment, and their magnificent esprit de corps, largely engendered by their faith in Alexander's invincibility. Alexander appeared to be without fear. He commonly led the elite Macedonian Companion Cavalry into the thick of battle personally, and he received a number of dangerous wounds during his military career, none of which dampened his military ardor. Having secured Persia's surrender, Alexander then moved south, conquering Syria, Palestine, much of modern Iraq, and eventually Egypt herself. He returned to Persia, destroyed the last of the Persian forces and took over the entire country. He continued east, eventually coming into contact with the great Indian King Porus, who fought him to a standstill. Alexander eventually won the conflict, but at such a heavy cost that his men begged him to end the campaign and let them return to their families. Alexander himself returned to rule his empire from the captured city of Babylon. The Fall of Alexander In eight short years of fighting, Alexander had conquered more territory than any other living being. He successfully led his forces into battle against all of the great nations of the day, but none could stand against him. He was the absolute ruler of the largest empire the world had ever seen. Apparently he found this boring. Once in Babylon, Alexander began an inexorable decline. He began drinking heavily and engaging in all kinds of available debauchery (and there was much debauchery to be found in Babylon). He became subject to fits of anger and bouts of paranoid delusion. One night, in a state of blind rage and under the influence of alcohol, Alexander murdered Clitus, his closest associate. This barbaric act was to haunt Alexander for the rest of his life - which wasn't very long. In June of 332 BC, his body weakened by his excesses, Alexander died of malaria. He was 32 years old. Judgment of History "When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer." This extraordinary man (and his father before him) conquered Greece, the Balkans, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Persia, and Asia as far east as Afghanistan. His empire did not long survive Alexander's death − it was simply too large for any mere mortal to hold − and it was divided between a number of Alexander's generals. But Alexander's conquests allowed Hellenic culture to spread across most of the known world, and Greek would become the language of culture, art and science for centuries to come. With the exception perhaps of one or two religious leaders, no single man has had such a great effect upon western civilization as did Alexander the Great. Factoid *Alexander held a state funeral for his horse, Bucephalas, when it died in 326 BC. He also named a city in India "Bucephala" after his dead horse. Lines Defining the type of Greek that Alexander speaks is difficult. It seems as though he speaks modern Greek with many antiquated words. Words such as Χαιρε (lit. rejoice) are no longer used as greetings. This was probably a decision to bridge the gap between the Greece of today and the Greece of the classical world. Intro: "Hello Stranger! I am Alexandros, son of kings and grandson of the gods! (Χαιρε ξενε. Αλεξανδρος ειμι, υιος των ανακτων και εκγονος των θεων!)" Neutral Hello: Greetings. (Ηαριζεστε!) Neutral Let's Hear it 01: '''"Go On. (Προσερχου.)" '''Neutral Let's Hear It 02: I'm listening. (Ακουω.) Neutral Let's Hear It 03: "Yes? (Ναι?)" Neutral Let's Hear It 04: "Come. (Ελθε.)" Neutral Yes 01: Certainly. Neutral Yes 02: "(I Like It) Very Much. (Μαλιστα.) Neutral Yes 03: '''"Excellent!/For the very best! (Αριστα!)" '''Neutral No 01: '''Certainly not. '''Neutral No 02: We decline. (Απεκομεθα) Neutral No 03: I beg your pardon? Attacked: '''Indeed? I too grow tired of peace. Let's do this. '''Declares War: '''You are in my way. You must be destroyed. '''Hate Hello: "What? (Τι?)" Hate Let's Hear it 01: "You Say. (Ερ - Λεγεις.)" Hate Let's Hear it 02: "And? (Και?)" Hate Let's Hear it 03:''' Go ahead. 'Hate Yes 01: '''Oh, very well. '''Hate Yes 02: '''I suppose I must. '''Hate Yes 03: '''All right. '''Hate No 01: '"Not that! (Ταυτα ουχί δου!)" '''Hate No 02: That's unacceptable. Hate No 03: '''"You bastard! (Σουγε νοθη!)" '''Peaceful: I must congratulate you on your remarkable victory. Request: My friend, does this seem reasonable to you? (Φιλε, δοκει σοι ταλλα (τα?) αγατα) Defeated: (Surprised) "How could this be? I am heir to the Gods! (Απολλο σας με ποσει βογιος τερεη!)" Intro May the blessings of the gods be upon you, oh great King Alexander! You are the ruler of the mighty Greek nation. Your people lived for so many years in isolated city-states-legendary cities such as Athens, Sparta, Thebes-where they gave the world many great things, such as democracy, philosophy, tragedy, art and architecture, the very foundation of Western Civilization. Although few in number and often hostile to each other, in the 5th century BC they were able to defeat their much larger neighbor, Persia, on land and sea. Alexander, your people stand ready to march to war, to spread the great Greek culture to millions and to bring you everlasting glory. Are you ready to accept your destiny, King Alexander? Will you lead your people to triumph and greatness? Can you build a civilization that will stand the test of time?